A building is typically constructed with walls having a frame comprising vertically oriented studs connected by horizontally oriented top and bottom plates. The walls often include one or more gypsum wallboards fastened to the studs and/or plates on each side of the frame or, particularly for exterior walls, one or more gypsum wallboards fastened to the studs and/or plates on one side of the frame with a non-gypsum based sheathing attached to an exterior side of the frame. A ceiling of the building may also include one or more gypsum wallboards oriented horizontally and fastened to joists, studs, or other structural members extending horizontally in the building. Walls and ceilings of this construction often have poor acoustical performance and a low sound transmission class (STC) rating, which results in noise pollution, lack of privacy, and similar issues in the various spaces of the building.
One method to improve acoustical performance of the walls and ceilings is to install insulation in the cavities of the walls before attaching wallboards to the wall frame. Other methods include the use of perpendicular framing and/or rubber sheets, clips, or panels attached to the frame during wall or ceiling construction. A recent method incorporates a sound damping adhesive between wallboards to create a single panel. However, this recent method to improve wall or ceiling acoustical performance requires using a wallboard panel that is difficult to cut due to the two layers of paper or encasing material in the middle of the single panel. Further, attempts to couple two wallboards not having paper or encasing material on the inside faces of the wallboards have been problematic due to the inability of the sound damping layer adhesive to bond with the gypsum material of each wallboard. Such attempts have led to misalignment, warping, and pulling apart of the two wallboards.
Therefore, there exists a need for a sound damping wallboard of a single panel structure that is structurally robust with superior STC performance while requiring minimal effort to cut or score and snap for installation.